Tighter U.S. Rules Result in 49% Fewer Gun Dealers in County

WASHINGTON — Tighter federal regulations have squeezed out thousands of unscrupulous firearms dealers, resulting in a drop of almost 50% in the number of licensed gun dealers in Los Angeles County and across the nation, Treasury Department officials said Wednesday.

Reporting on the so-called Brady bill, which requires a waiting period before a handgun can be purchased, and other regulations that took effect in 1994, the officials said that the new rules--including a fingerprinting requirement and notification of local police--have weeded out many “kitchen table” dealers who were a principal source of handguns used in crime.

The number of licensed dealers decreased 56% nationally, with Los Angeles County recording a 49% drop and California as a whole declining 63%, officials said.

Raymond W. Kelly, Treasury’s enforcement chief, said the new regulations have contributed to the drop in violent crime and gun-related crimes reported by the FBI in recent years.

“All we wanted to do is tighten up and make sure that people were legitimately in the [firearms] business,” Kelly said.

In a report to President Clinton, the Treasury Department said that applicants for federal firearms licenses now must notify local police, must be fingerprinted and photographed and must have a face-to-face interview with an agent of Treasury’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Application fees have risen from $10 a year to $200 for three years.

Applicants also must “certify compliance with all state and local laws that apply to their business” and demonstrate that they have legitimate business premises, Kelly said.

“No longer do we have kitchen-table dealers who for $10 got a license to sell guns, frequently in violation of federal or local laws,” he said.

Overall, the number of licensed gun dealers nationwide has dropped from 286,500 in 1993 to 124,286 currently. In Los Angeles County, the numbers have gone from 4,436 to 2,247 and in California from 23,865 to 8,827.

Officials said California has the second-highest total among states. Texas, with a 55% drop, still has the most licensed gun dealers, with 9,187.

But Los Angeles’ problems with unscrupulous firearms dealers differ from those of other big cities in one respect--gangs. Los Angeles’ gang problem is bigger and more entrenched than that of any other city in the country, authorities say.

“We found a number of instances where people with federal firearms licenses were selling guns, without keeping records, and these guns were going directly to gang members,” said John D’Angelo, spokesman for the ATF’s Los Angeles office. “ . . . One Southern California dealer we tracked sold about 1,700 guns, many of them to gang members.”

The president, after receiving the Treasury report, issued a statement that said in part: “From the beginning of my administration, a key element of our overall crime strategy has been to restrict the ability of criminals and juveniles to obtain firearms. This report is additional proof that this strategy is working.”

Because of stricter new licensing rules, thousands of dealers have decided against applying for new three-year permits and more than 600 applicants have been rejected because of criminal records that make them ineligible under the updated regulations, officials said.

The report said the new licensing regulations have gone hand-in-hand with the Brady law, which requires a background check and a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns.

Because the number of dealers has decreased, officials said they assumed--but could not document--that overall sales of firearms have gone down, especially for handguns. The decrease in dealerships also has made it easier for ATF agents to trace handguns used in crimes to original purchasers, they said.

Times staff writer Miles Corwin contributed to this story.